Gibson Takes Issue With Time's Greatest Guitarist List

08/24/2009.

(Gibson) Any "Greatest Ever Guitarists" list is subjective in nature, of course, but occasionally one comes along that makes you scratch your head and wonder just which guitar-history books the list-maker has been reading. Such is the case with Time.com's recently-published "10 Greatest Electric-Guitar Players"

It's not so much Time's selections that are suspect — although, incredibly, the eight guitarists we've profiled below did not make the list — but rather it's the accompanying commentary. To describe British-born Eric Clapton as "King of the Tulsa Sound" is ludicrous (hey, Time.com, ever hear of J.J. Cale? Likewise, to apply the word "staccato" to Chuck Berry's style — which is rhythmically jumpy, but is also loaded with slurs and is smooth as silk — defies credulity. (Perhaps Time.com was confusing Berry with Devo.)

In any event, we submit that any one of the guitarists [on Gibson.com's list] warrants a spot higher than Yngwie Malmsteen or Johnny Ramone, each of whom made Time's list. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts on other electric guitar greats who should rank in the Top 10.